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The second day at the 25th IAJBS World Forum opened with a prayer song by the students followed by scripture reading. Further, Dr. S. Peppin, Academic Dean, Xavier School of Sustainability, set the objective for the conference over the theme "Innovate and Flourish" and called upon Father Paul Fernandez, Vice Chancellor, XUB, to extend a warm welcome to the Jesuit faculties, delegates, and other guests. Commenting on the alleviating poverty, distressed communities and existent inequalities, he implanted a question in everyone’s mind, “When and how will we flourish?”. He mentioned we can flourish through what we do. Maybe if we wiped the tears or welcomed a stranger in our midst, removed all barriers on the countryside or treated all as one. Innovation, which is renewal, should in a way make us feel the newness of each day that makes us flourish.

 

In his remarks, Dr Rodolfo P Ang, Dean AGSB, Manila University, Philippines, and the past President of IAJBS, mentioned that one cannot solve poverty without solving the problem of environment, and vice versa. He thanked IAJBS for making him realize that people who share same values, people who care about the environment, are the most important component of any association. His speech was followed by Prof Joseph M Phillips, Dean, Albers School of Business & Economics, Seattle University, USA, and the present President of IAJBS, who posed a question “Is there a new paradigm of business education” in front of the audience. He thanked Xavier University for putting up such a fine event.

 

The discussion on the theme opened with Mr R Gopalkrishnan, a proud Jesuit alumnus from Xavier College, Kolkata and Harvard Business School. He was delighted to be a part of the conference and spoke how Jesuit education left an everlasting impression on him making him learn few principles like “Knowledge and education are necessary for progress; a formal system is required to have an open mind and learn to make free choices as you were born with your own set of ideas”. He had the occasion to think about the subject of innovation and propelled further when he was asked to change the culture of innovation at Tata’s. From there, he got the idea of nature being a great leader. He spoke about the Abrahmic mythology that talks about the concept of paradise (heaven) in contrary to the India tradition which only has recycle (rebirths) to finally become so pure to finally merge with the Supreme. He boldly remarked that Poverty, Industries, Businesses, would never go away as perfection is unattainable. There is only imperfection that exists. One imperfection leads to another with the “next” more perfect than “now”. He emphasized that humans have forgotten their natured self and are trying to recreate it. He drew an analogy between Innovation and child birth. “A child has to go through many phases starting from a foetus that has no brain development and thereby not much value which resembles a concept or a thought. As foetus manifests into a baby, concept gets articulated as an idea and earns value. Going ahead, a child goes through many transformations with many stakeholders becoming a part of his development. Similarly an idea to turn into an innovation requires many transformations and collaborations that work upon it to improve. Hence, when you learn to articulate an idea, you generate value and then it has to be reshaped as it goes ahead. Sharing his experiences where he learned from nature took him to reveal some facts about revolutionizing innovations like that of an airplane, sliced bread, and flush toilets, that happened only after a time lag in between the concept and the final product. Mentioning the example of a ball point pen that are used by 3 billion people every 15 minutes works on the principle of  “a ball can roll in a viscous fluid” took him approx 40 years to generate the final product as well as its demand in the market. With this, he made a point that each one of us intuitively follow some natural ideas which we ourselves are not aware of. Each innovation is different as it is nurtured by different set of ideas and people. He also introduced the audience to the concept of Frugal Innovation and concluded by saying “I find instances where being natural and appreciating it is all what is needed to innovate and flourish”. One should focus on effectiveness rather than efficiency.

 

This was followed by the second panel discussion on “How to create a flourishing Business School in a Global Economy?” The discussion had Dr Carlos Moslares Garcia (Dean, IQS School of Management), Prof Susan Dann (Nat Peter Faber Business School, Australian Catholic University), Prof Joseph M Phillips (Dean, Albers School of Business & Economics, Seattle University, USA) and was moderated by Prof Amar K J R Nayak (Strategic Management, XIMB). The panel threw light on various aspects of business education such as moving towards being more bio-centric and expanding across borders without inhibitions.

 

The conference progressed with the third panel discussion, moderated by Prof. Arup Varma (Loyola University, Chicago), comprising Mr. Richard Lobo (Head, HR & Executive VP, Infosys Limited), Dr. N S Rajan (CEO, IDFC Foundation), and Mr. Rana Sinha (Additional Non Executive Independent Director of Ramkrishna Forgings Limited, Jamshedpur), discussed about “Business Education for a Flourishing World”.

 

The panel session began with Fr. E. Abraham, S.J. (Former Director, XLRI and XIMB) presenting the rope of honour to the dignitaries, and Fr. Paul Fernandes, S.J. presenting the rope of honour to Fr. E. Abraham. Prof. Arup then put forward few questions to the panellists to facilitate an exchange of thoughts and ideas on the theme for the session. He deliberated upon how often students are not taught how to take pride in what they do and what one should do in a flourishing world to encourage innovation in a business school. The discussion revolved around topics like “what business schools could do differently”, “how one should assess learning of an MBA graduate”, “what business schools should critically be doing, as well as not be doing”, “whether business schools truly impart the sense that business should be emphasizing planet, people, community, and not just profits”. The discussion was followed by a set of interesting questions and views put forward to the panellists by the audience. Dr. S. Peppin, ended the panel discussion with the vote of thanks.

 

This was followed by the First Parallel Session of the day, divided in 2 separate clusters, under the sub-theme “Philosophy and Principles of Innovation & Flourishing”.

 

The first cluster began with a brief introduction about the session plan and norms to be followed by the moderator, Dr. David Edward G. Jimenez, Anteneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Phillipines. The session comprised of 5 eminent speakers from the education industry. The first speaker who was also the moderator for the session talked about Motivation by Leadership in an educational Institution. He briefed about the ever-increasing competition in tertiary educational industry and mentioned the significance of how motivation could contribute to a leader’s course of action. He displayed the results of a questionnaire based on both qualitative and quantitative parameters. The results showed a clear tie between the requirement for a vision, 21st century mindset and immediate action as the most significant motivational requisites for a leader. The Second speaker was Mr. Ram from Loyola University Chicago, alumni of XUB. He deliberated upon how CSR & HRM is an Ethical Perspective. He cited examples such as the isolation of tribe North Sentinel Island in Andaman & Nicobar to state the importance of CSR activities. He emphasised that Organisations exert influence on its workers and should thus encourage a sustainable approach of work. He stressed on how respect for human dignity, cultures and values amounted to morality and stated the several forms of ethics. He discussed on the future course of action, which should comprise of learning how to coexist, implanting ethical values, culture contribution and incorporation of empirical study. The third Speaker, Mr. Manodip Ray Chaudhuri, Xavier University Kolkata spoke about Human Asset Management in International Workplaces. He stressed on how a strength and opportunity analysis should be conducted for an organisation before it enters into innovations. He discussed the model of IHRM and how its differentiation from Domestic HRM along with the mention of different aspects and strategic tools of IHAM (International Human Asset Management). He advised an approach which takes into account tactical, strategic and diversity features. Manindra Nayak, Xavier University was the fourth speaker for the session. He deliberated on Innovation in Business and Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC). He focused on the recovery of debts and showcased how the implementation of IBC has led to an early insolvency resolution. He stated the World Bank’s parameters for ease of doing business and displayed how India has improved from 133rd to 77th position in ease of doing business after IBC legislation. He demonstrated how the involvement of 5 critical financial institutions has improved the recovery rate to 43% and has led to a 70000 cr recovery in 2019. However, there are some limitations to be worked on like the average resolution timeline is 324 days which is above the 270 day limit set out in the code. The fifth speaker for the session, Bikram Bahinipati, Xavier University spoke on Innovative & Collaborative Framework for Sustainable Supply Chain Management. He explained the triple bottom line that consists of the environmental, economic and socio-political aspects. He suggested that there should be a voluntary integration of business, social and natural resources. He talked about the reverse supply chain that encourages reuse, reproduce and recycle of products. He conducted a survey where the target group consisted of Supply Chain Managers from different MSMEs to identify the enablers for innovation and improvement in sustainable management.

 

Under the second cluster, the first speaker Dr. Elena Lvina, (Asst Prof., Management Department, E.K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University, USA) emphasised on the significance of Circular Economy and its relevance, The issues with linear processing/economy and how universities can fill the missing links and act as incubators. She delivered her paper on the topic- Why University-led innovation in conjunction with social entrepreneurship is key for the circular economy. The second speaker was Mr. Arijit Mitra (Asst. Prof., XIMB, India), he accentuated on the question of his research which was “Whether disruption mean only Innovation?” He further elaborated that disruptive innovation can be seen in every form nowadays, even the highs and lows of a business cycle is itself a disruption. He deeply discussed the literature review on his topic throughout his session.

The next discussion was introduced by Dr. Suzete Antonieta Lizote from Brazil. She stressed on the importance of sustainable development goals and concluded her paper by stating that “The University social responsibility in the institutional evaluation represents a contribution to the society because the University is responsible for academy, scientific and training production of professionals with technical and ethical competence, influencing their living conditions, offering a return to society producing knowledge.” The last speaker for the session was Dr. Anup Krishnamurthy (Asst. Prof. of Marketing, St. Joseph’s Institute of Management, Bangalore, India). He presented his paper on charitable giving in a capitalist economy. He presented two strong findings through his study, firstly “Internal CSR leads to a favourable work context which in turn leads to a positive donation or charity outside the workplace.” Secondly, he compared the economies of US and UK over years and presented that “Even though both the countries had a hard time in their economies, people kept on providing charity, there was no significant change seen in the donation pattern of the people.” He ended the discussion by saying that “There should be less focus on economic ideologies and more focus on what is happening or helping the other people!”

 

The conference further witnessed its Second Parallel Session of the day in 3 different clusters. The theme for the entire session was “Frontiers of Jesuit Business Education”.

 

The first cluster had 5 different sessions concluded by various professors from a set of institutions who presented their views on varied sub-topics that were aligned to the main theme of the session. Dr. Tina M. Facca Miess, Associate Professor, Marketing, Boler College of Business, John Carroll University, USA, presented on “Collaborative Innovation in the Jesuit Network: “Helping Souls” to flourish by impacting the Sustainable Development Goals” wherein she talked in length about the challenges and opportunities faced by the institutions due to Globalization and shared 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. James A.F. Stoner, Professor of Management Systems and Chairholder, Chair for Global Sustainability, Fordham University, New York, USA, talked on the topic “Transforming Global Business Education to transform the world” wherein he mentioned the 5 different perspectives that shape our vision to look at Global Businesses. Dr. Amar KJR Nayak, Professor, Strategic Management, XIMB, India, discussed on the topic “Deconstructing the Philosophy of Business and Management Education” in which he talked about 6 different aspects of Business Education being excessively anthropocentric amongst others. Dr. Satya P. Chattopadhyay, Chair, Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurship Department, Arthur J. Kania School of Management, University of Scranton, USA, talked about “Ignatian Seminar in a Research Doctoral Program: A Case Study” wherein he discussed the curriculum, content, questions and assignments of the Ignatian Seminar in his university. The last sub-topic was discussed by Dr. Tania Saritova Rath, Professor, School of Human Resource Management, XUB, India, along with Dr. Mousumi Padhi, XUB, India who presented “ A study of Personal Values to understand Career Choices of Indian Gen Y Business” wherein they discussed upon their paper on Indian Gen Y Businesses and the methodologies and results they concluded.

 

The second cluster proceeded simultaneously. Dr.Karyl B.Leggio, Professor of Finance, Loyola University, Maryland, USA, chaired the session on the sub theme "Frontiers of Jesuit Business Education", spoke on the topic of "Flourishing in Finance: An Applications approach utilizing the Flipped, Hybrid Course Format", wherein she mentioned  ways to incorporate sustainability in already existing curriculum and integration of technology while teaching. Dr. Kritine Brands, Asst. Prof., Department of Management, United States Air Force Academy, USA, presented on "Innovating the Accounting Curriculum to Address Climate Change, Sustainability, and Corporate Social Responsibility" quoting 'Older people have spoilt your world but, you can change it through your organisation. Dr.Kalpana Sahoo, Asst. Prof., OB, School of Human resource management, XUB, India, discussed on the topic  of "Job seeking and happiness seeking : The study across generation" where she stressed on numerous ways to engage Millennials, empowering and mentoring them. Dr. Ajit Kumar, Asst. Prof., XIMB, India, spoke about "Design Classroom Sessions that Involve Students", presenting his own experiment and how changing methodology of distribution of grading percentage including random case pick at the end of the term within the classrooms has resulted in collected higher attention and scores. Dr. James A.F. Stoner, Professor of Management Systems and Chairholder, Chair for Global Sustainability, Fordham University, New York, USA, spoke on the topic “Progress Report on Creating a Next Generation Finance Textbook Consistent with Sustainability and Flourishing” wherein he stressed on transforming all of us to create and live in sustainable/ regenerating world and core into business courses to contribute to a sustainable/regenerating world.

 

The third cluster under the sub-theme was chaired by Dr. Gregory W. Ulferts, Professor, Decision and Systems Sciences of the College of Business Administration, University of Detroit Mercy, Michigan, USA. Dr. Ulferts welcomed the sessions’ presenters - Dr. Fakir Mohan Sahoo (Research Professor, Xavier University Bhubaneswar), Dr. Ajay T. Abraham (Asst.Prof, Marketing, Albers School of Business & Economics, Seattle University), and Dr. Terry Howard (Lecturer, Decision and Systems Sciences, College of Business Administration University of Detroit Mercy, Michigan, USA). Prof. Dr. Sahoo, first gave his insights on the topic, ‘Beyond the Dichotomy of Job and Happiness’, wherein he brought out the basic distinction between skill acquisition and skill utilization, and introduced the attendees to four major constructs – Self-Efficacy, which refers to the extent of belief that a person can competently do a particular kind of work; Optimism, which is linked to the left frontal brain activity; Resilience, which talks about the human capacity to minimize adverse impacts of the negative environment; and inculcating a Growth Mind-Set in individuals. Dr. Abraham shared with the gathering, his understanding of ‘The Negative Impact of Brokerage Fees for Retirement Plans’, and educated the audience about survey of employee perception and knowledge of brokerage fees, dealing with investment decisions and financial planning. Dr. Abraham also presented his ‘Pedagogical Research on Community Engagement Projects and Mission Oriented Learning’, which highlighted the shift to critical service learning and community engagement, and discussed how marketing can help contribute to ethical decision making and stakeholders beyond the immediate stakeholders and shareholders. Dr. Edward enlightened the audience on ‘Changing Expectations in Online Classes’, and emphasised how the online education medium opens up new opportunities by saving costs, for both universities and students, and by having a global and local reach. The session ended with an enthusiastic round of questions from students and academicians alike.

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